Definition
Classification refers to the parsing out of objects, ideas, acts, etc. into categories based on shared and differing characteristics. While this might sound relatively easy, classification can require interesting and significant intellectual work. At times, the similarities or differences between two things only reveal themselves after quite a bit of investigation.
Many of our ideas about classification can be traced to Aristotle, who discussed classification extensively--for example, he formed an early system for classifying animals that remained in use for centuries (Lloyd). In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle provides an example of classification in his discussion of the soul and its "excellences" of character, intellect, and morals. In his exploration, he spends time on practical wisdom, about which he writes "we shall get at the truth by considering who are the persons we credit with it" (1800). He then proceeds to form categories into which to place men, including one in which they exhibit practical wisdom. As part of this examination, Aristotle arrives at a definition of practical wisdom that lists its key qualities and also differentiates it from art, knowledge, philosophic wisdom, and comprehension, the other four "states of virtue by which the soul possesses truth" (1799).
As can be seen from the discussion of Aristotle, classification involves definition, whereby one identifies the core qualities of something and simultaneously shows its relationship (and difference) from other things. Burke discusses the nature of such identification and division in A Rhetoric of Motives. Burke writes, "The Rhetoric deals with the possibilities of classification [....]; it considers the ways in which individuals are at odds with one another, or become identified with groups more or less at odds with one another[....] Because, to begin with 'identification' is [...] to confront the implications of division. [...] Identification is compensatory to division" (22). In contrast to Aristotle, though, who seems utterly convinced that things can be absolutely classified by close reasoning, Burke asserts that classification (identification and division) is a rhetorical act. As he writes, "[P]ut identification and division ambiguously together, so that you cannot know for certain just where one ends and the other begins, and you have the characteristic invitation to rhetoric" (25).
One area in which classification is receiving significant attention is in the concept of identity. For instance, the traditional categories of race are being questioned, especially in the cases of those hailing from a multiracial background (Khanna). Similarly, gender identity is currently seen as more fluid and complex than it once was (Dragowski et al.). In both of these cases, what had once been seen to be firm categories--easy classification--are now revealing themselves as flexible. To paraphrase Burke, identification and division show themselves to be ambiguous, and we can see the "invitation to rhetoric" he describes being acted upon in the current scholarship.
ReferencesAristotle. "Nichomachean Ethics." The Complete Works of Aristotle. Ed. Jonathan Barnes. Princeton: Princeton University, 1984.Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: University of California, 1969.Dragowski, Eliza, Maria Scharron-del Rio, and Amy Sandigorsky. "Childhood Gender Identity...Disorder? Developmental, Cultural, and Diagnostic Concerns." Journal of Counseling & Development. 89.3 (2011): 360-366.Lloyd, G.E.R. "The Development of Aristotle's Theory of the Classification of Animals." Phronesis 6.1 (1961): 59-81.Khanna, Nikki. "Ethnicity and Race as 'Symbolic': The Use of Ethnic and Racial Symbols in Asserting a Biracial Identity." Ethnic & Racial Studies. 34.6 (2011): 1049-1067.
Classification refers to the parsing out of objects, ideas, acts, etc. into categories based on shared and differing characteristics. While this might sound relatively easy, classification can require interesting and significant intellectual work. At times, the similarities or differences between two things only reveal themselves after quite a bit of investigation.
Many of our ideas about classification can be traced to Aristotle, who discussed classification extensively--for example, he formed an early system for classifying animals that remained in use for centuries (Lloyd). In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle provides an example of classification in his discussion of the soul and its "excellences" of character, intellect, and morals. In his exploration, he spends time on practical wisdom, about which he writes "we shall get at the truth by considering who are the persons we credit with it" (1800). He then proceeds to form categories into which to place men, including one in which they exhibit practical wisdom. As part of this examination, Aristotle arrives at a definition of practical wisdom that lists its key qualities and also differentiates it from art, knowledge, philosophic wisdom, and comprehension, the other four "states of virtue by which the soul possesses truth" (1799).
As can be seen from the discussion of Aristotle, classification involves definition, whereby one identifies the core qualities of something and simultaneously shows its relationship (and difference) from other things. Burke discusses the nature of such identification and division in A Rhetoric of Motives. Burke writes, "The Rhetoric deals with the possibilities of classification [....]; it considers the ways in which individuals are at odds with one another, or become identified with groups more or less at odds with one another[....] Because, to begin with 'identification' is [...] to confront the implications of division. [...] Identification is compensatory to division" (22). In contrast to Aristotle, though, who seems utterly convinced that things can be absolutely classified by close reasoning, Burke asserts that classification (identification and division) is a rhetorical act. As he writes, "[P]ut identification and division ambiguously together, so that you cannot know for certain just where one ends and the other begins, and you have the characteristic invitation to rhetoric" (25).
One area in which classification is receiving significant attention is in the concept of identity. For instance, the traditional categories of race are being questioned, especially in the cases of those hailing from a multiracial background (Khanna). Similarly, gender identity is currently seen as more fluid and complex than it once was (Dragowski et al.). In both of these cases, what had once been seen to be firm categories--easy classification--are now revealing themselves as flexible. To paraphrase Burke, identification and division show themselves to be ambiguous, and we can see the "invitation to rhetoric" he describes being acted upon in the current scholarship.
Related Concepts:
Boundary, Heteroglossia, Identity
ReferencesAristotle. "Nichomachean Ethics." The Complete Works of Aristotle. Ed. Jonathan Barnes. Princeton: Princeton University, 1984.Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: University of California, 1969.Dragowski, Eliza, Maria Scharron-del Rio, and Amy Sandigorsky. "Childhood Gender Identity...Disorder? Developmental, Cultural, and Diagnostic Concerns." Journal of Counseling & Development. 89.3 (2011): 360-366.Lloyd, G.E.R. "The Development of Aristotle's Theory of the Classification of Animals." Phronesis 6.1 (1961): 59-81.Khanna, Nikki. "Ethnicity and Race as 'Symbolic': The Use of Ethnic and Racial Symbols in Asserting a Biracial Identity." Ethnic & Racial Studies. 34.6 (2011): 1049-1067.